Thank you all for the advice.

I contacted them again and got a reply. I was rejected :( The other candidate's background matched the project better.
Guess I'll keep trying.

I applied for a PhD project with a start date of Feb 2021. I was invited to interview in mid January and I thought it went well. I've not heard back from them - its been over 3 weeks. I sent an email to the admin team asking when I will hear the outcome of the interview but have not had a reply yet.
Maybe I should assume its a rejection because its after the start date?

Has anybody else been in a similar situation or have anyadvice?

Hi,

I contacted my former masters supervisor about doing a PhD with them but was told that their department doesn't have any funding and they would keep in touch if anything came up.

Would it be okay for me to suggest possible sources of funding? These sources of funding would require support from a supervisor before I could apply for them.

I worry that this was just a polite way of saying no and that I should look for other supervisors instead.

Any advice would be appreciated.